


Old Friends

by coprime



Category: Up (2009)
Genre: Animals, Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-04 20:30:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coprime/pseuds/coprime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Russell was so excited!  After six years, he and Mr. Fredricksen and Dug were finally back at Paradise Falls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mesmiranda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mesmiranda/gifts).



Russell was so excited! After six years, he and Mr. Fredricksen and Dug were finally back at Paradise Falls. It had taken forever to convince Mr. Fredricksen that he was old enough, and it had actually been his mom that did the convincing. Paradise Falls was just like he remembered -- foggy, rocky, and kind of creepy. He could even just barely see Mr. Fredricksen's old house on the edge of the falls.

"C'mon, Russell. If we're going to find Kevin, we need to go this way," Mr. Fredricksen said.

"Right. I remember where the big bird lives. It is--" Dug turned around until he was pointing at the entrance to the Labyrinth some distance off. "--there."

"Good eyes, Dug," Russell shouted as he ran towards the Labyrinth, his binoculars swinging wildly around his neck and his Wilderness Explorer backpack clanking loudly. When he reached the entrance, he fished out a sketchpad and crayons from inside his backpack, plopped down, and started drawing Kevin's home to the best of his ability. He would need to record everything he could about Kevin in order to earn his Advanced Ornithology badge.

He was nearly finished -- the tall rock structures were particularly difficult to get accurate -- when Mr. Fredricksen and Dug reached him. He added a few more shadows on the ground and held up his masterpiece for Mr. Fredricksen and Dug to see. "What do you think?" he asked.

"Very nice. I like all the, er, colors."

Russell smiled. He'd used every crayon in the box. "I took some artistic license." He thought the Labyrinth looked more cheerful when it was all the colors of the rainbow.

Dug piped up, "I am sure it is very pretty if I could see the colors too!"

Aw, Dug was feeling left out, so Russell reached over and petted him. Dug wagged his tail.

Mr. Fredricksen asked, "So what's your plan to keep us from getting lost in the Labyrinth?"

"Oh!" Russell jumped up. "I bought some super-strong rope, and we can tie one end around a rock out here and the other end around me. And then when we want to leave, we just follow the rope back." He thought his idea was a good one, and he beamed proudly at Mr. Fredricksen as Mr. Fredricksen thought it over.

"Super-strong rope you say?"

"Uh-huh."

"Strong enough that it won't get cut by rubbing against these rocks?"

"Nope. I tested it at home."

"Well all right then, it sounds like a plan."

Yay, Mr. Fredricksen thought his plan was a good one too. Russell carefully put away his sketchpad and crayons, pulled out the rope and some chocolate he'd brought along, and made a large slipknot with the rope. He looped the rope around a squat, nearby rock and tugged until the knot was nice and tight. He made a second slipknot, and that one got looped around his waist. After unwrapping the top of the chocolate bar, he was all set to go exploring.

Dug led the way in the Labyrinth, claiming he could smell out the big bird for them, while Mr. Fredricksen walked alongside the dog. Russell unspooled the rope mechanically because he was busy gazing up and around and all about himself. The Labyrinth was full of fog and rock towers, making it difficult to see more than a few feet in any direction. Russell would need a keen eye to spot Kevin, even given how colorful she was.

He also waved the chocolate bar around in what he hoped was an enticing manner.

It took about twenty minutes for Russell to notice that the rope had a lot more slack in it now than it had at the beginning. He turned around. The rope was on the ground, and it snaked around towards a rock that he didn't think he'd walked past. Weird. This called for investigation.

"Mr. Fredricksen," he called out, "I'm going to go this way." He pointed to where the rope led and held that pose until Mr. Fredricksen looked at him.

"What?" Mr. Fredricksen said, but Russell was too busy carefully following the rope, one foot on each side of it as he walked, to pay him any mind.

Russell turned the corner and found a large pair of scaly feet. The rope was attached to the right one with a slipknot. He looked up. It was a Giant Monal. The bird snatched a bite of the chocolate still clutched in Russell's hand. It was Kevin!

"I found Kevin!" Russell shouted.

"Hi, Kevin. Long time no see," said Mr. Fredricksen.

"Oh boy, I am so excited. You found the bird! I am so excited I don't know what to do, so I will run around in tiny circles. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy," said Dug.

Kevin continued eating Russell's chocolate. When she was done Russell hugged her and then helped her get her leg out of the rope, and he, Mr. Fredricksen, and Dug followed her to her nest. Russell was real glad Kevin was leading the way because he didn't think they'd have ever found her if she hadn't found them first.

She'd expanded her nest in the six years they'd been gone, and now it was so big it was difficult to find her eggs amidst everything she'd collected. Mr. Fredricksen took a seat on an old folding chair that Kevin had foraged from the pile of belongings Mr. Fredricksen had left behind, and Dug ran around happily looking at everything.

Russell sat on the ground with his sketchpad and crayons, drawing Kevin's nest and occasionally making notes on a different page (--three softball-sized eggs, --still likes chocolate, --does acrobatics with the rocks, et cetera).

"What happened to your other babies, Kevin?" he asked. "I bet they're all big now too and have their own families to take care of."

Kevin cawwed, loud and long.

"Do you ever get to see them? My mom says it's important to see family every once in a while because that's how you know you're important to each other, even if you also end up reminding yourself why you don't want to see them all the time. But I like going to family reunions and weddings and graduations and all those sorts of events."

Kevin cawwed again.

"Don't forget friends," Mr Fredricksen said. "It's important to spend time with them too."

Dug bounded over to Mr. Fredricksen and licked his face then did the same to Russell. "You are my master, and you are my friend. I like to play with both of you!" He stopped at Kevin's feet. "Are you my friend too, big bird?"

In response, Kevin carefully grabbed Dug with her foot, leaned down a bit, and lifted him to eye level. Dug licked her beak. Kevin licked him back. "Yay! You are my friend." And just like that, Kevin and Dug started playing together.

Russell heard a caw like Kevin's from somewhere nearby. And then another one, but from a different direction. And then a third. Something exciting was going to happen, he could feel it.

Kevin tossed Dug up into the air while Mr. Fredricksen admonished her to be careful with Dug because he couldn't just go to the store and get another dog like Dug. Kevin suddenly caught Dug and screeched happily as three slightly smaller Kevins entered her nesting area. They were Kevin's old babies, all grown up! Russell had always thought he had a nose for excitement, and this proved it.

Kevin, Russell, Dug, Kevin's children, and Mr. Fredricksen had fun together until finally the sun began to set.

"We need to be getting home Russell. Your mom will worry if we're gone too long," Mr. Fredricksen said.

Russell hung his head. "Okay, I guess."

Kevin chirped sadly, as did her children, and even Dug looked a little hangdog.

"Why's everyone so glum? I never said we couldn't come _back_ now that you're a bit older, Russell." Mr. Fredricksen addressed Kevin. "Will you lead us out of your home? We can't do it by ourselves."

At Mr. Fredricksen's announcement, Russell smiled. Not only had Mr. Fredricksen practically promised that he could visit Kevin again, he also thought Russell was mature! So next time he shouldn't need his mom to get Mr. Fredricksen to take him here. He gathered his things as quickly as he could.

Kevin shooed her children away, and the procession back to the _Spirit of Adventure_ was a happy one. It took them much less time to reach their dirigible than Russell would have liked, and even less time to prepare it for takeoff.

Russell watched Kevin out the window as they got higher and higher up and waved to her for as long as he could see her. "Thanks for taking me, Mr. Fredricksen. I really liked getting to see Kevin again."

Dug chimed in. "I like the big bird too! She is my friend."

"I had a good time too, Russell." Mr. Fredricksen reached over to ruffle Russell's hair. "As I said it's important to visit old friends."


End file.
